Traitor

Chapter 3

‘WHILE DR DEE is in Lancashire, he is staying at Lathom House with the Earl of Derby. You are to go there and bring Dee away, John. Bring him down south to the home of Thomas Digges in Kent. Once there, you will hand him into the protective care of Frank Mills. That way Dee and Digges will both be in safe keeping.’

Shakespeare acknowledged Cecil’s instructions with a nod, then his gaze drifted sideways and his eyes locked with Heneage’s. The older courtier’s eyes seemed permanently amused and friendly. He was a well-built handsome man in his early sixties, the sort of fellow you liked the instant you met him, the sort you might confide in at short acquaintance. He sat, apparently relaxed, but he was listening intently.

‘But you will tread carefully, John,’ Cecil went on. ‘While I have little time for Dee, for he is a nuisance, the Queen retains affection for him and relies on his auguries.’

‘I understand, Sir Robert.’

Cecil seemed to hesitate. Shakespeare noted it. There was clearly more to this than just the removal of the sciencer and conjuror John Dee from Lancashire to Kent. Shakespeare said nothing. Cecil was not a man to be prodded for information.

‘Bear one other thing in mind, John: Dee’s circumstances are so dire that one must consider the possibility – however unpleasant – that he could be tempted to sell his knowledge of the perspective glass. Such a secret could fetch him much gold.’

Dr Dee had a curious reputation. There had been scandalous talk about him over the years. Some said he was a Simon Magus – a demonic magician with godlike aspirations; others merely called him a conjuror, which was defamatory enough. But never had Shakespeare heard a suggestion that the man might be a party to treason. Still, he had encountered stranger things in his years of working in the world of secrets.

Shakespeare turned again to Heneage, but he still said nothing, merely observing the proceedings with amused detachment.

‘What do we know of Dee’s character?’ Cecil said. ‘Is he treacherous? We have no reason to think so. But we do know that he is easily intimidated. I have seen his terror of my father. His hand shakes like barleycorn in the breeze when he is in the old man’s presence.’

Afraid of old Burghley? That was reasonable enough, given the power he wielded. Only a fool would be duped by his kindly face and white beard.

‘We know, too, that Dee has no guile. That might seem an admirable attribute in a Christian gentleman, but in Dee’s case it simply means he can be deceived. For a man who claims to understand the heavens, he is mighty gullible here on earth. I fear a man would not have to be the most skilful cozener in England to lure a secret from him. Why, a pretended scryer could find out all he wished by informing him that the angels insist he reveal the secret of the perspective glass.’ Cecil laughed again, drily. ‘My father always had doubts about Dr Dee, John, and I share them.’

Shakespeare did not laugh, but he smiled at Cecil’s cruel jest about the scryer and the angels, for he understood its scandalous provenance. During Dr Dee’s years in Prague, he had been persuaded by an ‘angel’ to exchange wives for a night with his scryer Edward Kelley. It was said that the comely young Jane Dee wept uncontrollably as her husband despatched her to Kelley’s quarters to be ravished – while Dee received Kelley’s rather less alluring wife, Joanna, in return.

Yes, Cecil was right, Dee was gullible. There could be little argument about that.

‘Consider, too, the company he keeps,’ Cecil continued. ‘Kelley apart, Dee made some unsavoury friends during his time in Prague. The city is a hotbed of treason and Catholic intrigue. And we know, too, of the Earl of Derby’s unfortunate connection with that city and its English traitors.’

Shakespeare stiffened. From the straightforward task of protecting Dee, Cecil was lurching into high politics. The Earl of Derby, with whom the doctor was now staying at Lathom House in Lancashire, was one of the premier claimants to succeed to the throne of England. This was not merely high politics, but dangerous politics: the earl’s religious sympathies had come under much scrutiny these past months.

Cecil nodded in the direction of Heneage. ‘Sir Thomas, if you would …’

Heneage smiled warmly. ‘Thank you, Sir Robert.’ His eyes met Shakespeare’s again. ‘I have long admired your work on behalf of England, Mr Shakespeare.’

Shakespeare bowed. ‘Thank you, Sir Thomas.’

‘No, no, England must thank you. Sadly, there are those in our country who are not so loyal to our sovereign lady. My own county, Lancashire, I am afraid, has a great portion of such traitors and those who harbour them. Every week, new intelligence reaches my office of Jesuits and seminary priests walking our northern towns openly and without hindrance. It shames me, sir, as Chancellor of the Duchy, that such a state of affairs continues.’

It was ever thus, Shakespeare knew. Mr Secretary Walsingham – four years dead now – had been driven half insane by reports of Catholic defiance in Lancashire. He had continually ordered purges with heavy fines to be paid for recusancy – non-attendance in the parish church. The priest-hunter Richard Topcliffe kept maps of the county marked with names and homes of prominent Catholics, each one underlined and circled with the frenzied scrapings of his quill.

‘In truth, Mr Shakespeare, there are many in my county so disaffected that they would rather sever their fingers than sign the Bond of Association.’

Shakespeare’s jaw tightened. He shared the loyalty of those who had signed the Bond, but could also understand anyone’s reluctance to put their name to the paper. It had been formulated ten years ago, in 1584, by Walsingham and Burghley in the dark days following the Throckmorton plot against the Queen. All those who signed it made a pledge to do away with anyone who harmed or conspired to do harm to the Queen. It was dressed as an act of pure patriotism, but to Shakespeare it was a licence to kill, legitimised murder.

‘But that,’ Heneage continued with a wave of his elegant hand, ‘is by the by. I mention it merely so that you will know the dangers of the territory you are about to enter.’

‘Thank you, Sir Thomas. I have a good understanding of the situation in Lancashire. I, too, have seen the reports from the county.’

‘Good. Then I am sure all will be well and you will remove Dr Dee safely. But before you do so, there is someone I wish you to make contact with there. Her name is Lady Eliska Nováková, and she is the daughter of a very dear friend of mine, sadly deceased. I have a letter for her, full of fond remembrances. I would be grateful if you would put it in her fair hand.’

Heneage took a sealed paper from his gold and wine-red doublet and held it out. Shakespeare took it.

‘Of course, Sir Thomas. Where shall I find the lady?’

‘That is easy. Like Dr Dee, she is a guest of the Earl and Countess of Derby at Lathom House. He has few enough visitors these days, I believe.’

Janus Trayne clutched the reins with his left hand. His right arm was held in a blood-stained sling fashioned from old rag. The horse he rode was slow and stubborn. Worst of all was the pain, the deep throbbing pain from his wrist where the knife had penetrated. Every so often he stopped and put his left hand to the injury, feeling for heat, wondering whether it was about to turn bad.

He could not stop thinking about how nearly he had had the instrument within his grasp at Portsmouth. He had been so close to success, only to have it snatched away. But who was the assailant? Who thrust the dagger blade so deep into his flesh and bone? Somewhere, in the distant crannies of his remembering, there was a name attached to that stumpy body and grim, weathered face. Had he seen him before? If so, then in God’s name where?

The road to the north-west was long and hard, yet he had to ride on, for although his empty pouch would not make him welcome, he was expected. He realised well enough that there would be more work to be done. This was not over yet. The chance of earning two hundred golden ducats was not to be passed up. Spain would have what it so desired, and he would have his gold.

As Heneage strode from the offices, Cecil stayed Shakespeare with his hand.

‘Not you, John. We have a little more business.’

‘Sir Robert.’

Cecil closed the door and walked towards the table, where he had a goblet of French wine. He took a sip, then sat down close to the window. Shakespeare remained standing.

‘Well, John, your thoughts …’

‘This is about a great deal more than the safety of Dr Dee.’

‘Yes, the Lady Eliska.’ Cecil’s tight mouth creased into a grimace. ‘Let us say that she is of great interest to me. Her father was a fervent Protestant, who died at the hands of the Inquisition. He worked closely with Sir Thomas for many years, trying to advance the Protestant cause in the German lands and the Dutch estates. Now she seems to wish to further his work against Rome. Heneage is certain she can be of great help to England, and we may well have a use for her. But I wish your opinion. Observe her, John, and report back to me. Is she to be trusted?’

‘From her name, I would suspect she is from the East.’

‘She is Bohemian, from Prague.’

Prague. That city again. The place where Dee had gone in his strange peregrinations, the place whence so much trouble had come down upon the head of Lord Derby. Shakespeare’s raised eyebrow posed the question to Cecil.

‘How could she possibly help England?’

Cecil looked ill at ease. He shifted the hunch of his shoulder. ‘As yet, I am not certain. But Sir Thomas is convinced. Though he is to marry Mary Wriothesley this summer, I sometimes wonder whether there might be some place in his heart for his young Bohemian friend. Love can cloud any man’s judgment.’

Shakespeare said nothing. Walsingham had once believed that love had clouded his judgment, when Shakespeare fell for Catherine Marvell, the Catholic governess who became his wife and mother to his child.

Cecil continued, ‘For all I know, the lady Eliska might be all that Sir Thomas claims and more. But I would like to hear your impressions. You will have little enough time with her, for you must remove Dee at speed. All I ask is that you find out what you can.’

‘And my lord of Derby?’

Cecil hesitated again, then stood and looked out the window. At last he turned back.

‘Yes, it is true. I wish to know the state of things there. Do what you would do wherever you find yourself: keep a watchful eye. I fear, like a stag at bay, he lies isolated in his northern fastness. Since the events of last September, I know he feels endangered and cut adrift. He fights with his brother and is in conflict with the Duchy of Lancaster. As for those who would have made him king, the Jesuits, I believe he has received a death threat from them. Many of the more militant Catholics feel betrayed by him and desire revenge.’

‘That does not surprise me.’

Shakespeare knew enough of the perilous situation Derby had faced seven months earlier in the early autumn of ’93. A man named Richard Hesketh had approached the earl with a treasonable letter from the Catholic exiles in Prague, entreating him to be their anointed chief in England, their king-in-waiting. Derby had turned Hesketh over to the authorities, and the wretched man had been butchered on the scaffold for treason. But had the earl simply sacrificed Hesketh to save his own skin? Was he, as many still suspected, a crypto-Catholic with designs on the crown of England?

Cecil lifted the flask from the table and poured wine for them both. His mood seemed to lighten.

‘Come, John, tell me a little of your family. How do they fare? I was glad to help your boy Andrew go up to Oxford. These have been hard months for you all since—’

Shakespeare’s hand went up. ‘I am sorry, Sir Robert, I cannot talk about it. Forgive me.’ The death of Catherine was as raw today as ever. Sometimes he feared the pain would never ease.

‘I understand,’ Cecil said softly. ‘But sup with me, John. Take a little wine and sustenance. You have a long ride ahead.’